Remembering Robert Johnson Blues singer and guitarist Robert Johnson, an innovator and major figure in development of the Blues and Rock and Roll, was born about May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst. Spending his youth at family homes in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, Johnson fell in love with music that he heard at juke joints. He taught himself to play the guitar by listening to artists such as Son House and Willie Brown on records or the radio. His early struggle to refine skills followed by a remar